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TV darlings dumped as Golden Globes seeks new, edgy

GOLDEN GLOBES: Tina Fey, left, and Amy Poehler on stage during the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. The duo will again host this year's awards, which air on Sunday night. / Paul Drinkwater

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Television favorites of seasons past such as “Mad Men” and “Homeland” lost out to new, edgy shows like “Masters of Sex” and “House of Cards” in the Golden Globes nominations, as voters seek out TV’s next big thing.

In the category of best TV dramas, Netflix’s political thriller “House of Cards” and Showtime’s racy sex history series “Masters of Sex” will take on AMC’s gritty drug drama “Breaking Bad,” PBS’ British period series “Downton Abbey” and CBS’ law and corruption yarn “The Good Wife.”

Showtime’s domestic terror drama “Homeland,” which won Golden Globes for best TV drama for the past two years, failed to garner a single nomination. Other past favorites such as AMC’s advertising drama “Mad Men” and HBO’s epic fantasy “Game of Thrones” were also pushed aside for new shows.

“It’s the job of the people in the industry to try and prepare people for the next generation of shows, and make sure something strong is on the upwards escalator, so I welcome the new shows in the category,” “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes said in an interview.

Past comedy favorites including NBC shows “The Office” and “30 Rock,” both of which concluded this year, also failed to win any nods on Thursday. In this year’s nominations for best comedy/musical TV series, new Fox cop comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” will compete against CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory,” ABC’s “Modern Family,” HBO’s “Girls” and NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.”

The Golden Globes, voted for by the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are one of Hollywood’s top honors for film and television, and winners will be announced at a televised ceremony in Beverly Hills airing on Sunday.

Online streaming platform Netflix barged in this year with its first forays into original programming: “House of Cards” snagged four nominations, while female prison drama “Orange is the New Black” and comedy “Arrested Development” picked up a nomination each.

A surprise entry into the mix was premium cable channel Starz, which had two shows vying for honors in the TV mini-series/movie categories, landing a network record of six nominations.

Starz received nominations for “Dancing on the Edge,” a BBC drama about a black jazz band in 1930s London, and “The White Queen,” a medieval period piece co-produced by the BBC and Starz. They will challenge HBO’s Liberace biopic “Behind the Candelabra,” Sundance Channel’s New Zealand thriller “Top of the Lake” and FX Networks’ “American Horror Story: Coven” for best miniseries/movie.

“The wealth is spread around more than it was before. Starz’s significant nominations are clearly a reflection of the network’s desire to support and produce quality drama,” said Colin Callender, executive producer of “Dancing on the Edge” and “The White Queen.”

NEW ROLES AND NEW TALENT

Newcomers and new roles also shook up the acting categories in the TV race.

“Orphan Black” actress Tatiana Maslany, “Orange is the New Black” lead actress Taylor Schilling, “Scandal” actress Kerry Washington and “House of Cards” actress Robin Wright will compete in the best TV drama actress category alongside previous Globe winner Julianna Margulies for “The Good Wife.” This is the fifth time Margulies has been nominated in the category for her role as a wife and litigator in the CBS show.

“The Globes have always done a great job of honoring people first. They always look out for new shows, and if not new talent, then talent in new roles,” James Hibberd, senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, said.

In the race for best actor in a TV drama, the only returning nominee is Bryan Cranston for his role as school teacher turned meth dealer Walter White in AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” which concluded after five seasons amid great hype in September.

Cranston, a favorite to win the category, will be up against Liev Schreiber for Showtime’s “Ray Donovan,” Michael Sheen for “Masters of Sex,” Kevin Spacey for “House of Cards” and James Spader for NBC’s “The Blacklist.”

Kevin Bacon, Mila Kunis and Larua Dern are among those who have been asked to be presenters at the Golden Globes. Others among the first batch of presenters are Robert Downey Junior, Jimmy Fallon, Colin Farrell and Uma Thurman.

Poehler will host the awards ceremony with Tina Fey for the second year in a row. It will be broadcast on NBC.